Nobody quite knows the rivers from which the talents of men flow. Because as young as Mackinlay Mutsembi can recall, he could always play a musical instrument. He can play the saxophone, trumpet, tuba, trombone, harmonica, horn, and cornet—most of the brass instruments, actually. He can draw, cook, and write. He never had formal training with these instruments; one day he picked up a saxophone and it just felt like an extension of his body.
Early this year, he attempted to set the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous trumpet performance, playing for 24 hours straight at Nairobi’s Geco Cafe. He played over 300 songs spanning genres like jazz, Afro-jazz, R&B, pop, soul, jazz fusion, original compositions, and Kenyan classics. “I did it because nobody had ever done it with a trumpet before.” He said, “The way the trumpet is made. It fights against being played.”
